This invention relates generally to turbomachinery, and specifically to electro-discharge machining (EDM) methods for gas turbine engine components. In particular, the invention relates to EDM methods for machining cooling holes in turbomachinery components exposed to hot working fluid flow, including, but not limited to, rotor blades and stator vane airfoils, endwall surfaces including platforms, shrouds and compressor and turbine casings, combustor liners, turbine exhaust assemblies, thrust augmentors and exhaust nozzles.
Gas turbine engines are rotary-type combustion turbine engines built around a power core made up of a compressor, combustor and turbine, arranged in flow series with an upstream inlet and downstream exhaust. The compressor section compresses air from the inlet, which is mixed with fuel in the combustor and ignited to generate hot combustion gas. The turbine section extracts energy from the expanding combustion gas, and drives the compressor section via a common shaft. Expanded combustion products are exhausted downstream, and energy is delivered in the form of rotational energy in the shaft, reactive thrust from the exhaust, or both.
Gas turbine engines provide efficient, reliable power for a wide range of applications in aviation, transportation and industrial power generation. Small-scale gas turbine engines typically utilize a one-spool design, with co-rotating compressor and turbine sections. Larger-scale combustion turbines including jet engines and industrial gas turbines (IGTs) are generally arranged into a number of coaxially nested spools. The spools operate at different pressures, temperatures and spool speeds, and may rotate in different directions.
Individual compressor and turbine sections in each spool may also be subdivided into a number of stages, formed of alternating rows of rotor blade and stator vane airfoils. The airfoils are shaped to turn, accelerate and compress the working fluid flow, or to generate lift for conversion to rotational energy in the turbine.
Industrial gas turbines often utilize complex nested spool configurations, and deliver power via an output shaft coupled to an electrical generator or other load, typically using an external gearbox. In combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs), a steam turbine or other secondary system is used to extract additional energy from the exhaust, improving thermodynamic efficiency. Gas turbine engines are also used in marine and land-based applications, including naval vessels, trains and armored vehicles, and in smaller-scale applications such as auxiliary power units.
Aviation applications include turbojet, turbofan, turboprop and turboshaft engine designs. In turbojet engines, thrust is generated primarily from the exhaust. Modern fixed-wing aircraft generally employ turbofan and turboprop configurations, in which the low pressure spool is coupled to a propulsion fan or propeller. Turboshaft engines are employed on rotary-wing aircraft, including helicopters, typically using a reduction gearbox to control blade speed. Unducted (open rotor) turbofans and ducted propeller engines also known, in a variety of single-rotor and contra-rotating designs with both forward and aft mounting configurations.
Aviation turbines generally utilize two and three-spool configurations, with a corresponding number of coaxially rotating turbine and compressor sections. In two-spool designs, the high pressure turbine drives a high pressure compressor, forming the high pressure spool or high spool. The low-pressure turbine drives the low spool and fan section, or a shaft for a rotor or propeller. In three-spool engines, there is also an intermediate pressure spool. Aviation turbines are also used to power auxiliary devices including electrical generators, hydraulic pumps and elements of the environmental control system, for example using bleed air from the compressor or via an accessory gearbox.
Additional turbine engine applications and turbine engine types include intercooled, regenerated or recuperated and variable cycle gas turbine engines, and combinations thereof. In particular, these applications include intercooled turbine engines, for example with a relatively higher pressure ratio, regenerated or recuperated gas turbine engines, for example with a relatively lower pressure ratio or for smaller-scale applications, and variable cycle gas turbine engines, for example for operation under a range of flight conditions including subsonic, transonic and supersonic speeds. Combined intercooled and regenerated/recuperated engines are also known, in a variety of spool configurations with traditional and variable cycle modes of operation.
Turbofan engines are commonly divided into high and low bypass configurations. High bypass turbofans generate thrust primarily from the fan, which accelerates airflow through a bypass duct oriented around the engine core. This design is common on commercial aircraft and transports, where noise and fuel efficiency are primary concerns. The fan rotor may also operate as a first stage compressor, or as a pre-compressor stage for the low-pressure compressor or booster module. Variable-area nozzle surfaces can also be deployed to regulate the bypass pressure and improve fan performance, for example during takeoff and landing. Advanced turbofan engines may also utilize a geared fan drive mechanism to provide greater speed control, reducing noise and increasing engine efficiency, or to increase or decrease specific thrust.
Low bypass turbofans produce proportionally more thrust from the exhaust flow, generating greater specific thrust for use in high-performance applications including supersonic jet aircraft. Low bypass turbofan engines may also include variable-area exhaust nozzles and afterburner or augmentor assemblies for flow regulation and short-term thrust enhancement. Specialized high-speed applications include continuously afterburning engines and hybrid turbojet/ramjet configurations.
Across these applications, turbine performance depends on the balance between higher pressure ratios and core gas path temperatures, which tend to increase efficiency, and the related effects on service life and reliability due to increased stress and wear. This balance is particularly relevant to gas turbine engine components in the hot sections of the compressor, combustor, turbine and exhaust sections, where active cooling is required to prevent damage due to high gas path temperatures and pressures. To achieve efficient active cooling, advanced machining methods are required.